Mental health and life satisfaction in East and West Germany: Effects of generation and migration of citizens

Publication type:
Journal article
Metadata:
Abstract
<jats:sec><jats:title>Objective</jats:title><jats:p>The reunification of Germany after the separation between 1949 and 1990 has offered a unique chance of studying the impact of socialization, political transformation, and migration on mental health. The purpose of this article was to compare mental distress, resources, and life satisfaction (1) between residents of East and West Germany and migrants who have fled from East to West Germany before reunification and (2) between three generations.</jats:p></jats:sec><jats:sec><jats:title>Methods</jats:title><jats:p>We assessed anxiety, depression, resilience, self-esteem, and life satisfaction, comparing groups based on their residency and migration, as well as three different birth cohorts. Using a representative survey of 2006, analyses of variance show the differences between these groups. Based on a representative survey (<jats:italic>N</jats:italic> = 4,530), the effects of gender (53.6% women), residency/migration (74.4% grown up in the West, 20.4% in the East, 5.3% migrants from the East to the West) from three generations (32% born until 1945, 39% until 1967, and 29% to 1989), and positive and negative mental health indicators were analyzed.</jats:p></jats:sec><jats:sec><jats:title>Results</jats:title><jats:p>Women reported higher distress and lower resilience. Residents of the Western states reported the lowest burden of distress (depressive and anxiety symptoms) and the highest overall life satisfaction, exceeding residents from the Eastern states and migrants from the Eastern to the Western states. Migrants from the Eastern to the Western states, however, reported the lowest resilience and self-esteem. They reported lower satisfaction with income, living conditions (compared to the Western residents), and the lowest levels of satisfaction with family (compared to East and West).</jats:p></jats:sec><jats:sec><jats:title>Conclusion</jats:title><jats:p>Overall, our data point to inequalities between the Eastern and Western states regarding mental health 16 years after reunification favoring the residents of the Western states by lower distress and life satisfaction. Our data attest to the stresses and adjustments associated with migration from the Eastern to the Western states before reunification. A lower level of mental health and life satisfaction in the oldest generation may be related to the sequelae of World War II and also to aging.</jats:p></jats:sec>
Autoren
  • Manfred E Beutel
  • Lisa Braunheim
  • Ayline Heller
  • Gabriele Schmutzer
  • Oliver Decker
  • Elmar Brähler
DOI
10.3389/fpubh.2022.1000651
eISSN
2296-2565
Zeitschrift
Frontiers in Public Health
Online publication date
2022
Status
Published online
Herausgeber
Frontiers Media SA
Herausgeber URL
http://dx.doi.org/10.3389/fpubh.2022.1000651
Datum der Datenerfassung
2022
Titel
Mental health and life satisfaction in East and West Germany: Effects of generation and migration of citizens
Ausgabe der Zeitschrift
10

Data source: Crossref

Other metadata sources:
Author's licence
CC-BY
Autoren
  • Manfred E Beutel
  • Lisa Braunheim
  • Ayline Heller
  • Gabriele Schmutzer
  • Oliver Decker
  • Elmar Brähler
Hosting institution
Universitätsbibliothek Mainz
Sammlungen
  • DFG-491381577-G
Resource version
Published version
DOI
10.3389/fpubh.2022.1000651
Funding acknowledgements
  • Gefördert durch die Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Projektnummer 491381577
File(s) embargoed
false
Open access
true
ISSN
2296-2565
Zeitschrift
Frontiers in Public Health
Schlüsselwörter
  • 610 Medizin
  • 610 Medical sciences
Sprache
eng
Open access status
Open Access
Paginierung
1000651
Datum der Veröffentlichung
2022
Public URL
https://openscience.ub.uni-mainz.de/handle/20.500.12030/8679
Herausgeber
Frontiers Media
Datum der Datenerfassung
2023
Datum, an dem der Datensatz öffentlich gemacht wurde
2023
Zugang
Public
Titel
Mental health and life satisfaction in East and West Germany : effects of generation and migration of citizens
Ausgabe der Zeitschrift
10

Files

mental_health_and_life_satisf-20230126111102008.pdf

Data source: OPENSCIENCE.UB

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